Safety Device for at least one Container, in Particular a Blow- Mouded Plastic Container

ABSTRACT

A safety device for at least one container, in particular a blow-moulded plastic container, preferably in ampoule form, having a supply part ( 5 ) for accommodating a medium which can be dispensed via a container opening ( 9 ), is characterized in that the container opening ( 9 ) can be closed by means of a first safety part ( 11 ) which counteracts opening forces with a predefinable resistance, and in that the predefinable resistance can be overcome for the release of the container opening ( 9 ) with the aid of a second safety part ( 15 ) which interacts with the first safety part ( 11 ).

The invention relates to a safety device for at least one container, in particular a blow-moulded plastic container, preferably in ampule form, having a storage part for holding a medium which can be dispensed by way of a container opening.

As is recognized, safety devices for containers are advantageous or even essential in instances where the medium is to be prevented from being easily dispensed from the container, more exactly, from being dispensed without the need for special measures for clearance of the container opening. The increased difficulty of removing the contents of the pertinent container which results from the safety device is especially necessary as a child safety feature when hazardous media are contained in the container, whose contact or oral ingestion at least for a certain group of individuals, for example children, would have fatal consequences.

This relates in particular to blow-molded plastic containers in ampule form, produced, for example, from plastic, filled and sealed for example using the known Bottelpack® process. These ampules often contain fluids for therapeutic purposes, whose use is intended only for certain individuals, with a child safety feature being especially necessary.

With respect to this problem, the object of the invention is to make available a safety device which, for containers whose storage part contains a dispensable medium, enables dispensing of the medium only when certain actions corresponding to a predetermined operating sequence are carried out, whose execution is not apparent in particular to children.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a safety device which has the features of claim 1 in its entirety.

Accordingly, the invention as the closure of the container calls for a first safety part which counteracts the opening forces with a resistance which can be overcome using a second safety part which interacts with the first safety part. In this connection a definable resistance can be chosen such that it can hardly be overcome without the aid of the second safety part or in any case not by children. In this case, easy or unintentional opening is made difficult and it is especially ensured that children are not able to execute the operating sequence which is necessary for opening the container opening without instructions.

Containers in ampule form can often be found commercially in the form of a so-called “multiblock” of several interlocked ampules. This version further contributes to child safety by prior separation of the container from the ampule block being necessary as a further complication of the opening process.

For units joined into a multiblock of several containers, each container is provided with its own second safety part. Alternatively, a single safety part can be assigned to each multiblock and it can be removably attached, for example, to the multiblock or can be stowed on it.

When each container is assigned its own second safety part, it is preferably removably attached to the assigned container.

For blow-molded plastic containers, the arrangement is preferably such that the second safety part is molded in one piece on the assigned container and can be removed by breaking at the predetermined point of separation.

Preferably the arrangement is such that the first safety part is a closure part which is molded in one piece on the container opening with the formation a second predetermined point of separation on the head end of the storage part, the second predetermined point of separation counteracting the opening forces with the definable resistance. In an especially advantageous manner, the second safety part in this instance can be formed by a head part which on the head end of the storage part which has the container opening is molded on the storage part and on the closure part in one piece by way of a first predetermined point of separation. Advantageously, in this instance the safety device with a first and second safety part forms a unit which can be made in one piece in the production and filling of the container, such as using the Bottelpack® process.

Here the arrangement can be made such that the first predetermined point of separation counteracts the removal of the head part with a resistance, which resistance is less than the definable resistance with which the second predetermined point of separation counteracts the removal of the closure part from the container opening. This results in that the attempt to open the container by the head part being removed by breaking the first predetermined point of separation, a process which is also obvious in this regard to children, does not result in clearance of the container opening, because as a result of the lower resistance with which the first predetermined point of separation counteracts the removal of the head part, on the closure part not so great an opening force takes effect which would be sufficient to overcome the definable resistance with which the second predetermined point of separation counteracts the removal of the closure part.

Thus, for the opening process a second step is necessary which can be implemented using the second safety part, in this example using the head part which has been removed from the container.

In advantageous embodiments the head part has a handling part which can be manually grasped and at least one tool part with action surfaces which can be caused to engage the assigned contact surfaces of the closure part in order to overcome the resistance formed by the second predetermined point of separation for clearance of the container opening.

Preferably the closure part on its exterior has a nonround, preferably polygonal shape, so that it forms contact surfaces for the action surfaces of the tool part which easily enable transmission of torque from the tool part to the closure part, so that it can be twisted off the container opening at the second predetermined point of separation.

In one especially advantageous embodiment the head part is formed by a body in the form of a plate with side edges which extend opposite one another in an extension of the exterior of the storage part and an end edge which connects them, in the plate as the tool part at least one depression being recessed, whose wall sections which are matched to the nonround shape of the exterior wall of the closure part, form the action surfaces of a turning tool for twisting off the closure part.

The arrangement can be made such that after removing the plate-like body which forms the head part, on the head end of the storage part a mouthpiece for oral use of the container is available, the mouthpiece being formed by tapering of the head end of the storage part, the taper being formed by a pair of symmetrical concave surfaces which are opposite one another, and whose ends which form the narrow side of the taper border the first predetermined point of separation, that is, the end edge of the head end which is formed after removal of the head part.

The invention is detailed below using embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of the multiblock which is shown approximately in natural size with six interlinked blow-molded plastic containers in ampule form, provided with one embodiment of the safety device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the embodiment from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a section both according to cutting line III-III from FIG. 1 and also cutting line IV-IV from FIG. 6;

FIG. 4 shows a front view of an individual, blow-molded plastic container in ampule form with a modified embodiment of the safety device;

FIG. 5 shows a section according to cutting line V-V from FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a side view corresponding to FIG. 4 with a further modified embodiment of the safety device according to the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a front view corresponding to FIG. 6 with a further modified embodiment of the safety device;

FIG. 8 shows a section according to cutting line VIII-VIII from FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a front view corresponding to FIG. 1 according to a further modified embodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a side view of the embodiment from FIG. 9, and

FIG. 11 shows a section according to cutting line XI-XI from FIG. 9.

The invention is explained below using embodiments for which the safety device in the form of a child safety feature makes the opening process difficult for containers blow-molded from plastic in ampule form. These ampules can be produced in one piece, for example, using the Bottelpack® process, can be filled sterile and can be sealed. Combined into a so-called multiblock, these ampules can be marketed as a unit of several ampules. In FIGS. 1 and 9 a multiblock with six ampules which are interlinked at points of separation 3 is designated as a whole as 1. Each ampule has an essentially circularly cylindrical storage part 5 with an upper head part 7 which extends with formation of a constriction to the container opening 9 which is sealed by a closure part 11 that is molded on in one piece. As can best be seen from FIGS. 5 and 11, the closure parts 11 are molded to the respective container opening 9 with the formation of a predetermined point of separation 13 which is referred to as the “second predetermined point of separation” here throughout.

As the upper termination of the overall ampule unit a head part 15 is molded on the top of the head end 7 by way of the predetermined point of separation 17 which is referred to as the “first predetermined point of separation” here throughout. This first predetermined point of separation 17 extends both along the top of the head end 7 of the storage end 5 and also beyond the exterior of the respective closure part 11. Moreover, the first predetermined point of separation 17 extends along the end edge of the lateral edge wings 19 which form an extension of the points of separation 3 on the exterior of the storage part 5. While the second predetermined point of separation 13 is made capable of resistance between the container opening 9 and the closure part 11, the first predetermined point of separation 17 is made to be easily broken. If therefore the pertinent head part 15 is removed by breaking the first predetermined point of separation 17, as a result of the resistance capacity of the second predetermined point of separation 13 the closure part 11 remains on the container opening 9, i.e., removal of the head part 15 does not lead to clearance of the container opening 9.

The respective head parts 15 have the shape of a plate-like body with side edges 21 which form an extension of the edges of the edge wings 19, and with end edges 23 which run at a right angle thereto. For the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 11, the head parts 15 are made partially as hollow bodies with cavities 25, but they can also be made in the manner of a solid body. Each head part 15 has a flat handling part 27 and a tool part 29. The peculiarity of the tool part 29 consists in that it has a depression 31 as the actual actuating tool. Comparison of FIGS. 1, 4, 6 and 7 shows that there can be depressions 31 in the head parts 15 at different locations. As is likewise apparent from the figures and as can best be taken from FIGS. 3, 5 and 11, the depressions 31 have action surfaces 33 which run at a right angle to one another. As is likewise apparent from FIGS. 5 and 11, the closure part 11 has an essentially quadratic outline shape. The head part 15 which has been removed by breaking the first predetermined point of separation 17 therefore, when it is grasped on the handling part 27, can be used as a turning tool by the tool part 29 being seated with a depression 31 on the closure part 11, the action surfaces 33 adjoining the contact surfaces on the exterior of the closure part 11 which is quadratic in outline and thus causing the transfer of torque to the closure part 11 when the head part 15 is twisted. The resistance with which the twisting-off of the closure part 11 by the second predetermined point of separation 13 is counteracted can be overcome by the corresponding handling of the head part 15. While simple removal of the head part 15 does not result in clearance of the container opening 9, the opening process is made simple and comfortable when a second handling step is executed by the action surfaces 33 of the depression 31 being caused to engage the contact surfaces on the closure part 11 by manipulation of the head part 15 by means of the handling part 27 and rotary motion being executed to twist the second predetermined point of separation 13.

FIGS. 9 to 11 illustrate one embodiment for which the plastic container is made as a so-called drinking ampule. In contrast to the other examples, the storage part 5 in the direction to the head end 7 is made tapered in a slightly conical shape. In order to form the mouthpiece, the head end 7 itself has concavely curved surfaces 37, the ends of the surfaces 37 which form the narrow side of the taper bordering the first predetermined point of separation 17. When the container opening 9 is cleared, comfortable oral administration of the contents of the storage part 5 is enabled.

In the illustrated example, in the head part 15 there is a respective depression 31 as the tool part. It goes without saying that when the head part 15 is dimensioned accordingly there can also be two or more depressions.

While the invention is explained above using examples which relate to comparatively small-volume containers in ampule form, it goes without saying that the invention can be equally applied to other types of containers, for example, to larger volume containers for beverages, with or without the mouthpiece execution molded on, or containers of another type. 

1. A safety device for at least one container, in particular a blow-moulded plastic container, preferably in ampule form, having a storage part (5) for holding a medium which can be dispensed by way of a container opening (9), characterized in that the container opening (9) can be sealed by means of a first safety part (11) which counteracts the opening forces with a definable resistance, and that by using a second safety part (15) which interacts with the first safety part (11), the definable resistance can be overcome for clearing the container opening (9).
 2. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein for a unit joined into a multiblock (1) of several containers in ampule form, each container is provided with its own second safety part (15).
 3. The safety device according to claim 2, wherein the respective second safety part (15) is removably attached to the assigned container.
 4. The safety device according to claim 3, wherein the second safety part (15) is molded in one piece on the assigned container and can be removed by breaking the predetermined point of separation (17).
 5. The safety device according to claim 4, wherein the first safety part is a closure part (11) which is molded in one piece on the container opening (9) with the formation of a second predetermined point of separation (13) on the head end (7) of the storage part (5) and wherein the second predetermined point of separation (13) counteracts the opening forces with the definable resistance.
 6. The safety device according to claim 5, wherein the second safety part is a head part (15) which is molded on the head end (7) of the storage part (5) which has the container opening (9) on the storage part and on the closure part (11) in one piece by way of a first predetermined point of separation (17).
 7. The safety device according to claim 6, wherein the first predetermined point of separation (17) counteracts the removal of the head part (15) with a resistance, which resistance is less than the definable resistance with which the second predetermined point of separation (13) counteracts the removal of the closure part (11) from the container opening (9).
 8. The safety device according to claim 7, wherein the head part (15) has a handling part (27) which can be manually grasped and at least one tool part (29, 31) with action surfaces (33) which can be caused to engage the assigned contact surfaces of the closure part (11) in order to overcome the resistance formed by the second predetermined point of separation (13) for clearance of the container opening (9).
 9. The safety device according to claim 8, wherein the closure part (11) for forming the contact surfaces for the action surfaces (33) of the tool part (29, 31) has a nonround exterior wall which runs preferably polygonally so that the tool part (29, 31) can apply a torque to the closure part (11) in order to twist it off the container opening (9) at the second predetermined point of separation (13).
 10. The safety device according to claim 9, wherein the head part (15) is a body in the form of a plate with side edges (21) which extend opposite one another in an extension of the exteriors (3) of the storage part (5) and an end edge (23) which connects them, the tool part (29, 31) having at least one depression (31) which with wall sections (33) which are matched to the nonround shape of the exterior wall of the closure part (11) forms the action surfaces of a turning tool for twisting off the closure part (11).
 11. The safety device according to claim 10, wherein the closure part (11) has a mostly rectangular outline and wherein the wall sections of the depression (31) of the plate, which depression forms the respective tool part, and which wall sections form the action surfaces (33), run at a right angle to one another.
 12. The safety device according to claim 5, wherein the head end (7) of the storage part (5) for forming a mouthpiece for oral use of the container has a taper by a pair of symmetrical concave surfaces (37) which are opposite one another, and whose ends which form the narrow side of the taper border the first predetermined point of separation (17). 